News Weekly is our column where we highlight and summarize some of the week's top stories so you can catch up on the latest tech news.
This is Android Central's News Weekly, your go-to source for a concise roundup of the week's most significant tech stories. This is where we delve into the top headlines that provide the latest developments and innovations contributing to the digital landscape.
This week, Samsung lost its patent lawsuit against Oura, some Google Pixel users had to deal with a weird bug attacking their alarm clocks, Pixel 9a got a launch date, Fitbit's Health Metrics are getting a redesign on Android and iOS, and Google suddenly decided to "privately" develop future Android OS. Let's dive in!
Samsung's case against Oura gets thrown out
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On May 30 last year, Samsung tried to one-up Oura after its lawyers filed a lawsuit in the San Francisco Division District Court against Oura Health Oy. It was essentially a preemptive move before the latter could consider suing Samsung for patent infringement — just like it sued three other smart ring makers (Ultrahuman, Circular, and RingConn).
Samsung claimed that "Oura's pattern of indiscriminate assertion of patent infringement against any competitors in the smart ring market" is an "actual, imminent risk to Samsung" and the Galaxy Ring's chances of success.
However, on March 27, federal judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín from the U.S. district court dismissed Samsung's case, stating that Oura's general statements about enforcing its patents that were seen in the other three cases "were not directed at Samsung" and "do not reveal a likelihood or intent to enforce Oura’s patents against Samsung."
Samsung will likely appeal this dismissal, and experts think that it will continue to sue Oura, keeping the company from suing the Korean OEM in other courts.
While this tag game continues, here's what we think this dismissal will do to the smart ring market at large.
It wasn't you, it was your Google Pixel 9
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Nope, you didn't hit on snooze — your alarm actually never rang. Pixel users took to Reddit this week to report issues with their scheduled alarm clocks. This is the first we've ever heard of a bug like this impacting Pixel phones.
One user states the alarms on their Pixel never went off. In fact, they had set four alarms, and all four were "turned off," not dismissed. The user said that each alarm soon deactivated itself on their Pixel 9, while another user thought Gemini was behind this weird bug. Their post reads, "My initial assumption was that I told Gemini to stop a timer that was going off and it canceled all my alarms."
This issue seems to be impacting only Pixel 9 users after the March update. Google is yet to acknowledge it. For now, if you rely on your phone to wake you up, I'd probably look for another alarm to do the job.
Save the date, Google Pixel 9a is arriving soon
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The Google Pixel 9a launched on Mar. 19, and now, ten days later, the company announced that the budget phone will be in stores starting April 10.
Google usually makes all its devices available for pre-orders on launch day, but for the Pixel 9a, we were told that it would show up in stores "sometime in April." There's a good reason why Google wanted to hold back preorders; it said the first Pixel 9a units had a "component quality issue" and that it wanted to make sure that the phone was functioning as it was supposed to before being released to the masses.
In a community post, the company detailed its rollout plan, starting with users in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., who will get to buy the Pixel 9a as early as April 10, with later dates for other regions and some listed as "coming soon."
Fitbit's health metrics are getting a redesign
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Fitbit's Health Metrics page is getting a fresh coat of paint on the mobile app, matching other app components.
Before, the Fitbit app had the Health Metrics page for data points like breathing rate, resting heart rate, blood oxygen, and more appearing in a basic interface that didn't match the rest of the Fitbit app
However, an upcoming update is giving it a new look and making it easier for users to view their data. For instance, before the update, tapping the preview card will list out five health metrics recorded, giving you a glimpse of how many of those metrics are in your "personal range." In a new change, only the "Today" stats are shown on the main Health Metrics page.
Previously, you could see this data by switching to the "Trends" tab in Health Metrics; however, now the app will be focused on giving users metric-based data.
Google apparently wants to make Android OS behind closed doors
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Google is shutting its doors to the public when it comes to developing Android OS, according to a new report.
Mishaal Rahman at Android Authority claims that Google will shift to privately developing the Android OS starting "next week." This is because Google wants to start making the OS development more streamlined and internal.
According to Rahman, this change will more directly impact Google and the AOSP (Android Open-Source Project). The company will allegedly "change the frequency of public source code releases for specific Android components." Rahman states that, with Google's normal public source code releases for the AOSP, the company needs to "spend time and effort merging patches."
Have you heard of the saying," Too many cooks spoil the broth?" Looks like Google wants to solely have a say in how the OS functions, keeping the outside noise to a minimum. However, according to AC's Jerry Hildenbrand, "Android already isn't as open as you think." He says that Google is ultimately in charge of Android's code and has the final say as to what gets done, how it gets done, and when it gets done.
"You (or anyone) can contribute to Android, though. Once everything gets wrapped up, the "finished" code is posted for anyone to grab and use however they want."
More stories this week
Those are some of the biggest stories from this week. Meanwhile, here are some other stories that are worth catching up on:
- The Nothing Phone 3a series might eventually put a price on its new AI perks
- Leaked Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE renders purport small changes to its familiar design
- Google Maps taps Gemini for an 'Ask about place' chip with directions and more
- The new Oppo Find X8 Ultra shot better low-light images than the iPhone16 Pro with dual periscopic lenses
- Google prepares you for a hot summer with new AI updates for traveling
- New leak shows off Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in 'Titanium' variants
- Heads up — Samsung's detailed One UI 7 rollout schedule for Galaxy appears
- New Galaxy Z Flip 7 case leak backs rumors of a larger cover display
- Google Maps might predict more than just the traffic for you soon
- Gemini 2.5 Pro is Google's latest AI model with thinking and multimodality built-in
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